Oh, aren’t these first rehearsal videos of the celebrities with their partners are fun? 🙂 Here is Ralph and Karina. Ralph seems a little stiff, but, his heart and humor is in it. I wouldn’t count him out just yet.

I'm a fashion and music fan....and I have always loved dancing too of any kind. Dancing With The Stars seems to have this way of bringing all of those things together. One of my favorite dancing quotes at the moment: "No matter what, nobody can take away the dance you've already had...." ~Gleb Savchenko . For fun music and dance mixes, visit WilUnleashed Soundcloud. To view my photography site, see Lisa Kay Photography.

I agree with you Vogue! He seems to be a little stiff, but its not bad. I am sure Karina is going to work him hard this coming week to get him ready. She seems optimistic. I think he has potential and he is very sweet and charming. Voting audience will probably love it. I am not going to count him out of the competition. He may be a dark horse. He is one I’m rooting for. 🙂

Vogue, you’re the best for ferreting all this great stuff out. Watching Mike and Ralph in their interviews got me thinking …..
Ralph: wax on wax off
Mike: pants on pants off
Hines: pink on pink off
Kendra: heels on heels off
Kirstie: weight on weight off (ouch .. sorry!)
Wendy: show on show off
Romeo: shoes on shoes off
Chris: rock on rock off
Chelsea: Staub on Staub off

then I ran out of steam and couldn’t come up with anything for Petra and Sugar Ray. Anyone?

so far it looks like it’s the fox trot for Mike, Sugar Ray & Ralph; and the cha cha cha for Kendra. I have a feeling Petra & Hines will have the fox trot and Chris will do the cha cha cha.

Linde: "Ralph: wax on wax off
Mike: pants on pants off
Hines: pink on pink off
Kendra: heels on heels off
Kirstie: weight on weight off (ouch .. sorry!)
Wendy: show on show off
Romeo: shoes on shoes off
Chris: rock on rock off
Chelsea: Staub on Staub off"

I’ve got to tell you, I’m really liking everyone and so far, from what I’ve seen – everyone brings something good to the table …. or rather, to the dance floor 😉

Did Mike close on the Regis deal? If so, that may well bring him some votes from people who are fans of that show. Kirstie and Ralph fit the voting demographic of the show. Hines and Sugar Ray bring their own huge fan base to the fore, as does Wendy I’m thinking (I don’t have cable TV so don’t know much about her or her show). Petra is on the bubble – models generally don’t do well – and she seems quiet, paired with a quiet partner. Of course, they could really WOW us with their dancing, but without a fan base ?? Romeo and Chelsea are young and popular, but that demographic doesn’t generally vote for this show, even if they watch it to follow a favorite. My niece last year was a huge fan of Audrina, watched DWTS because of her, but did not vote and quit watching after Audrina was eliminated … too busy … too much else going on …. too much drama in her own life to worry with voting deadlines and hassles getting through. Plus, I think she rarely watched it live.

Anyone other than Petra being eliminated the first week would be a “surprise” elimination, in my humble opinion not having seen a single dance 🙂 We’ll see how I feel after Premier night. I hate first week eliminations anyway and would prefer to save that heartache for the second week of competition. Let everyone get their feet wet first before kicking them to the curb. It’s bound to be absolutely nerve wracking the very first night for anyone so let that be the “practice round” as it were. Just a thought.

Wow. Ralph really ain’t that bad. I’m less worried about his dancing skills and more worried about him just blending into the background amongst bigger names…with powerhouse names like Kirstie, Hines, & Sugar Ray, and young, popular names like Kendra, Romeo, & Chelsea, I’m just afraid Ralph’s gonna get lost in the shuffle, since he hasn’t really done a whole lot since Karate Kid. Hopefully he can knock out some stellar scores to save him long enough for people to take a liking to him and start voting.

@Carlos – Attractive or not, I’m not gonna knock anyone for getting plastic surgery. I’m definitely of the school of thought “If it makes you feel better about yourself, and doesn’t get out of control, go for it!”, and Karina is definitely not the worst I’ve seen when it comes to plastic surgery snafus. Cosmetic surgery runs rampant in the ballroom world, where having that perfect look on the floor is so important – women get their lips & eyes done in order for them to show up better under stage lighting, they get lipo and breast implants so their costumes fit better, and I’ve known many ladies of eastern European descent that got the characteristic “bump” taken out of their noses so their profile looks better in photos. Lots of men get work done, too – pec implants, lipo, face lifts, hair implants…you name it, I’ve seen it. In a world where physical appearance is paramount to a successful career, it’s definitely not a rareity.

I *really* hope Ralph sticks around. He is definitely my sentimental favorite and I fear that he may be overshadowed by big personalities and huge fanbases. I think they are keeping everyone around for two weeks, right? Like they did in season 10 when Shannen was eliminated first.

Well, I played around with it and my best effort stopped the video but the audio still played automatically. I’m no expert for sure. I’m guessing that they’ve coded the first frame to play and we can’t offset that. Which is unfortunate because these autoplay videos can be a drag.